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Thank you for your editorial on “JP’s presidential choice” and your front-page article about the candidacy of Dr. Jill Stein, Green Party nominee for president of the United States (“Green prez nominee: Why JP should vote for me,” Sept. 14). The article highlights one of the less obvious reasons that community newspapers like the JP...

Long-planned improvements to the Kelley Circle rotary at the Jamaicaway and Arborway are under way, aimed at slowing traffic and improving pedestrian and bike safety. The work, slated to wrap up early next month, will shorten the crossings at Parkman Drive and narrow the travel lane in the rotary. “I’m really happy about that,”...

The deadline for listings is noon, Oct. 9 for the Oct. 12 issue. Send listings to reporter@jamaicaplaingazette.com. Note: 617 should be dialed before numbers below, unless another area code is given. Special Events First Thursday, community art shows and walkabout, throughout Centre and South streets, Thurs., Oct. 4, 6-8pm. Info: jpcentresouthmainstreets.org. Lantern Parade, community...

FOREST HILLS—Eugene O’Neill’s Irish pub opened Sept. 17 after over a year of work. The pub and restaurant at 3700 Washington St. does not yet have set hours. It starts serving lunch at 11:30 a.m. and may stop serving anywhere from 9 to 11 p.m. until the hours are finalized. “Last night was wonderful,”...

FOREST HILLS—The City Public Improvement Commission just approved half-a-dozen new on-street parking spaces on Washington Street just south of Ukraine Way to accommodate customers for the Arboretum Place development. “The plan is not yet finalized as we continue to work to incorporate proper pavement markings and associated bike lanes in order to ensure that...

Hyde Square’s Food Wall restaurant is among the Chinese eateries highlighted in “Planet Takeout,” a new WGBH 89.7 Radio program debuting Oct. 1. The program documents the role that Chinese takeout restaurants play in neighborhood life, immigration and other aspects of culture. It is an unusual participatory documentary that allows anyone to share their...

FOREST HILLS—The tainted-evidence scandal that recently shuttered the Jamaica Plain-based state drug lab is not the first time that a chemist there has been accused of wrongdoing. In 1985, a similar scandal erupted when a chemist was charged with stealing cocaine in 11 criminal cases after testing it at the State Laboratory Institute at...

The state Republican Party has entered the lion’s den of traditionally liberal, Democratic Jamaica Plain by opening a campaign office in Hyde Square. “We’re opening offices in corners of the state we never have before,” said Massachusetts Republican Party spokesperson Tim Buckley in a Gazette interview, adding that the GOP is growing rapidly throughout...

Mayor Thomas Menino today vetoed the City Council’s latest attempt at redistricting. The council had passed by a 7-6 vote last Wednesday a plan by local City Councilors Matt O’Malley and Tito Jackson. Menino had vetoed an earlier plan, citing concerns of minority concentration in District 4 and reiterated those concerns with the latest...

HYDE SQ.–The owners of the former Blessed Sacrament Church complex apologized for their secrecy in planning high-end housing on the site, and pledged to hear out any alternative ideas, at a meeting tonight to address community controversy. But they also indicated that the plans basically remain the same unless someone comes up with millions of...

State Department of Public Health (DPH) Commissioner John Auerbach, a Jamaica Plain resident, resigned today amid the growing scandal surrounding the now-closed state drug lab at the William A. Hinton State Laboratory Institute in JP. The drug lab, which was located at the Institute at 305 South St. and examined drug evidence in criminal...

The state investigation that shut down the drug testing lab at the William A. Hinton State Laboratory Institute is not looking into the 17 other labs in the building, which include disease control and racehorse drug testing labs. Dr. Linda Han, who oversaw all 18 public labs in the building as director of Bureau...

The Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) has scheduled a meeting for Wed., Sept. 19 to review controversial high-end apartment and condo plans for the Blessed Sacrament Campus. The meeting was posted on the BRA’s website Sept. 14 but was not formally announced. The meeting is reconvening a community advisory committee (CAC) that helped develop the campus...

FOREST HILLS—The state Department of Transportation (MassDOT) maintains the Casey Overpass is safe to drive on and under, following emergency repairs that closed one direction of traffic on Aug. 31. Protective fabric shielding to contain debris previously had been installed on other areas of the overpass. But fabric will not be placed on the...

Photos by Daniella Rascon The second annual Jamaica Plain Music Festival drew hundreds of people to see two-dozen local bands play at Jamaica Pond Park on Sept. 8. The show went on despite bouts of rain. The music fest is already joining the ranks of beloved local traditions, as attested by former JPer Courtney...

Jamaica Plain should be voting Green, not Democratic, this fall if it really wants to see its famous progressive ideals in action, said Green Party presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein in an exclusive Gazette interview. “I think Jamaica Plain is really at the cutting edge of the progressive movement,” said Stein, a Lexington resident...

The debate over the Casey Overpass’s fate has drawn passionate activism from some Jamaica Plain residents. Not so for Richard Heath. Instead, it propelled him to write a book about the history of Forest Hills, a neighborhood in JP that the overpass spans. The overpass, which was built in the 1950s, is the State...

The controversial luxury apartment project proposed for 161 S. Huntington Ave. was removed from yesterday’s Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) board meeting agenda, where it would likely have received an approval. The change was announced Monday. “The developer needs to do more work on it,” BRA spokesperson Melina Schuler told the Gazette. “That’s great news....

The Sept. 6 primary election results have been counted, and in the most contentious local race, the incumbent retained the seat. Robert Dello Russo was attempting to unseat Jamaica Plain resident Maura Hennigan for the clerk of the criminal division of the Suffolk County Superior Court. But Hennigan garnered 63 percent of the vote,...

Mayor Thomas Menino on Sept. 6 vetoed the City Council’s redistricting plan, citing a lack of diversity in districts. The council had passed the plan by a 7-6 vote on Aug. 22 and must now go back to the drawing board. The vetoed map did not change Jamaica Plain, but a new map could....

PARKSIDE—Elizabeth Warren, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, met privately with Latino community leaders at the home of longtime Jamaica Plain activist Jaime Rodriguez in April. “I really like her,” said Rodriguez, who invited Warren to meet with various leaders at his Montebello Road home. “People are really happy with her.” “They discussed a...